Limits and troubleshooting¶

Known limits¶

x86-64 only. The VM and machine images are x86-64.
Idle stop ignores services. A machine stops after idle_timeout minutes without nsl commands, editor sessions or windows, even if a service inside it is busy. Set idle_timeout = 0 to keep machines running.
No file events from the host. Host edits under /mnt/host produce no inotify events in machines. Keep watched builds in the guest home.
No automount triggers. An unmounted host automount point appears empty in machines until the host mounts it.
Wayland only. Machines have no X server, so X11-only applications open no windows.
Host loopback only. Forwarded ports bind 127.0.0.1 on the host, and one port serves one machine at a time.
Archives are unencrypted and can contain credentials. Import requires your UID and GID.
Your whole home is visible to machines that are not isolated, including nsl's state and keys. This matches the trust model.
Data disks only grow. There is no shrinking.

nsl doctor fails: A tool, the UEFI firmware, a device or a permission is missing. Install the tool or firmware with your host's own tools, or ask an administrator to add you to the kvm group. nsl changes none of these itself.
Bare nsl fails and lists machines: There is no default machine, for example after removing it. Run nsl default NAME, or nsl -m NAME.
nsl run refuses to run: The current directory is not in a shared tree, or the machine is isolated. Pass --cd with an absolute guest path.
A port is not reachable from the host: Run nsl ports. A conflict means something else holds the port, on the host or in another machine. The server must listen on port 1024 or above, and not on 5353 or 5355.
A window does not appear: Check that nsl doctor finds Waypipe, that the command ran from a Wayland session, and that the machine is not isolated. nsl logs NAME shows the desktop session.
The VM does not become ready: Run nsl logs for the VM's messages, then nsl recover. Recovery starts the VM from a fresh root and keeps your machines.
A new setting has no effect: Resource changes apply at the VM's next start. nsl config shows what is pending; nsl shutdown applies it at the next command.

Open an issue at github.com/frostyard/nsl ↗ with the output of nsl version, nsl doctor and, where it helps, nsl logs.